If there is one thing you are planning on learning this year, please consider making it saying no.

One of my friends calls herself a prisoner of her own politeness. It is funny and cute, until one realizes how much this little name entails. And then one realizes that most of us are, in fact, prisoners to our own politeness. Stubbornness. Prior plans. Perfectionism. Peer pressure. Need to belong. Need to feel different. Stress. Laziness.

Ourselves and the world around us.

Here on my blog I talk a lot about freedom and choices, and how much it matters for us to be the agents of our own lives. Which, of course, always comes with not-very-predefined consequences too, as all magic has its own price tag (yes, even bunnies). There are many many ways to achieve this level of freedom, sometimes, but saying no opens doors that no other word is capable of.

I am a creature of habit. I may be a perfectionist forever unhappy about everything, but once I do find a solution (not necessary a good one!) – I tend to stick to it. Ask my boyfriend. He had to learn really quickly to pre-plan the routes he takes with me, as once I start going one way, that is it forever, progress is overrated. So you can probably imagine how crazily stressful it is for me to go through the process of finding a new flat.

Or a house. Right now it seems as if all of the bloggers I love are moving into their brand new, bought-not-rented houses. And with the rate at which I skip from one country to another, well I am likely to settle down in a place I own somewhere around the age of 70 – so all of these posts… well… I guess what I am trying to say that I strive not to get too envious. Yet the thought of actually moving into my own house scares me so terribly the wait till 70 suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.

Oh my, finding a flat in Barcelona was a real nightmare.

Sure, a huge part of it all was the peculiarity of the Barcelona market and the fact we were constantly presented documents to sign in catalan… But that wasn’t the part that hurt most. There is just something so scary about even the smallest possibility of going homeless – even if it is an absurd one (we would just stay in an Airb’n’b longer after all). Can you even imagine it – never finding a new flat? Any flat? Even the smallest room?

On top of all of it, there was just so much chaos and uncertainty, people changing their minds at the last moment, and really weird places to see, and time sunk, and… 0/10 would not recommend. To anyone. Or any time.

But if you do have to go through the tedious process of finding a new flat, here are some of my lessons learnt.[Read more…]

New year – new me, right? Our brains love these imaginary doors that we can shut behind us and move on from, as if our past could be compared to a pair of old socks, too full of holes to wear anymore or even to keep in the cupboard just in case. With the new year come the reflections, the goals, the resolutions… and all that jazz our Instagram feeds get flooded with sometime around the beginning of December (with some occasional posts still popping up until around mid February). But let’s face it – the chances are that we screwed up the year 2017, most likely badly, so what gives us the sudden confidence to think that we can magically not do exactly the same this time? You have no answer? Well, maybe the question you should be asking yourself instead is how to ruin your year – and how to do it in style.

We are all experts at not delivering. Do not trust people who claim they are excellent at everything they touch. They’re either robots, lizards or both. Either way, stay away from them.

And, since we are of course doomed to repeat our mistakes over and over again, the best we can do is embrace our flaws and make sure we break the Biggest Screw Up of the Year record – as it is the only one we have a shot at.

If you’ve been around for a while, you should already know how to ruin your day or your work, but this time we are going to break the bank – I am going to teach you how to ruin your year just as it starts, from one master ruin-er to another. [Read more…]